


Testing the Water

by silentdescant



Series: Happenstanceverse [4]
Category: Adam Lambert (Musician)
Genre: Bruises, Dom/sub, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-01
Updated: 2011-04-01
Packaged: 2017-10-17 10:46:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/176057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentdescant/pseuds/silentdescant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Adam's away, the boys will play.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Testing the Water

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place three days after Happenstance.

Brad shuffles into the living room, where Tommy’s jamming on his acoustic guitar, and throws himself down on the couch with a heavy sigh. He’s wearing a t-shirt and no pants, and he kicks his feet up in the air like he’s at a slumber party. Tommy makes a questioning noise but doesn’t stop playing.

“I should go back to my house,” Brad says, propping his chin on his hand to look over at Tommy.

Tommy plays a sad little riff. “Why?”

“I haven’t been there in three days,” Brad replies. “My roommate probably thinks I’m dead.” It’s true, he hasn’t been home. They haven’t left Adam’s house at all in that time. They’ve hardly even put on clothes in all that time, but when they do get dressed, Brad wears Tommy’s pants and Adam’s t-shirts, which are not only ridiculously large on him, but also completely adorable.

“Yeah, but why do you need to go back?” Tommy asks petulantly. “You should just stay here.”

“I’ve got, like, stuff at home,” Brad protests.

“Like what?”

“Like… my computer! And… stuff, I don’t know. Clothes, shoes, food… I didn’t exactly pack for this, y’know?”

“You don’t need clothes,” Tommy says. “Or shoes, or food. And… I don’t know, use Adam’s computer.”

Brad sighs again, but he doesn’t make any effort to leave the couch. Tommy plays a few easy chord progressions, eyes downturned to watch his own fingers on the frets. It’s easier than staring at Brad while Brad stares at him.

“I don’t want you to leave,” he finally says under his breath.

“Well then,” Brad says, “keep me entertained. I’m bored out of my mind.”

“We could watch a movie?” Tommy suggests hopefully. Brad dismisses that idea with a wave of his hand. “Umm… Play a game?”

Brad wrinkles his nose. “You’re not making this very interesting.”

“Your idea of interesting pretty much just includes sex.”

Brad smirks. “Exactly.” He pushes up on his hands and gets his legs under him, so he’s sitting the right way up on the couch.

Tommy rolls his eyes and clamps his fingers down on the guitar strings to silence them. “I could fuck you.”

“Could you?” Brad makes it sound like an innocent question, but Tommy detects the challenge underneath it.

“I’m not _always_ a bottom,” Tommy replies. “You’ve just never seen me when I’m not subbing.”

“Aww, are you gonna go all big, bad top on me now? You’re so adorable, TJ.”

Tommy carefully sets aside his guitar and crosses his arms over his chest. “I could shut you up, easy.”

Brad raises an eyebrow at him. “I’m still talkin’, sweetie.”

Tommy launches himself at the couch and tackles Brad onto his back, neatly pinning his arms over his head. “Who’s talkin’ now, huh?”

Brad purses his lips and pretends to think about it. “Still me. I thought you were gonna shut me up?”

Tommy leans down and kisses him, and though he means to make it hard, forceful, like Adam does, he ends up letting Brad take the lead and push his tongue into Tommy’s mouth first. It’s a little strange, kissing Brad without Adam around; he can more easily see the similarities in their kissing style this way, and how they must have learned from each other years ago. Tommy’s fingers go lax around Brad’s wrists, but Brad makes no effort to move, and they just lie there and kiss for an achingly long time. Tommy doesn’t ever want to stop.

Brad finally pushes Tommy up and away, and when Tommy opens his eyes, he takes in Brad’s swollen lips and flushed cheeks, and then the bruises that haven’t yet faded from his throat. He reaches down and presses the tip of his index finger into one of the darker spots. Brad sucks in a breath and opens his eyes to meet Tommy’s.

Tommy stares down at him for a moment, not quite sure what to do next. Eventually the silence becomes too much for him, and he whispers, “I don’t want to call you names.”

“You don’t have to,” Brad answers, equally quiet.

“What do you need?” Tommy asks.

“It doesn’t have to be kinky,” Brad says, and Tommy starts to protest, because he _knows_ that, but Brad just keeps talking over him. “I want you to fuck me. However you want. You want my mouth, you want my ass, whatever. I just want to have fun. With you.”

Tommy watches him for another moment, then sits back on his heels and frowns. “I’m not good at this.”

Brad sits up and cups Tommy’s cheek. “You’re used to Adam, I get it.”

“I don’t always sub for him,” Tommy says. “We have like, _normal_ sex too.”

Brad laughs. “Adam’s normal isn’t everyone else’s normal. Tommy, think about yourself before you met Adam. Fuck me like you would have back then. I want you to act, not react.”

“I don’t know what you want, though,” Tommy replies, chuckling nervously. He’s all off-kilter, and he’s not sure if it’s Brad making him feel this way, or if it’s just the lack of Adam’s presence. He licks his lips and shakes his head. “I don’t know what to… Maybe we should just wait for Adam to get home.”

Brad lies back down and stretches his arms up over his head, wrists crossed. “Do you want me, baby?” he asks with a smirk.

“Fuck, yeah.”

“So take me,” Brad murmurs. “However. You. Want.”

Tommy hesitates again. “I want your shirt off.”

Brad arches his back and pulls it over his head, then returns to his on-display mode, preening and posing under Tommy’s gaze. Tommy leans down, slowly, and closes his lips around Brad’s left nipple. He sucks a little, laves his tongue against the hard nub, and leaves Brad with a wet kiss.

“Is this okay?” he asks, glancing up at Brad’s face.

“Baby, I’ll tell you if it’s not okay, believe me,” Brad replies. He pushes his chest up impatiently, chasing Tommy’s mouth. “Whatever you want, Tommy. Do it. Anything.”

Tommy swallows his nerves and leans down to suck Brad’s other nipple into his mouth. He uses his teeth this time, just lightly grazing them over Brad’s skin, and Brad keeps making encouraging noises, urging him on.

He starts to move on instinct, sliding his hands up and down Brad’s sides and finally curling his fingers into the waistband of his underwear. He slides them partway down Brad’s thighs.

“You want me to suck you off?” he asks breathlessly.

Brad shakes his head. “Whatever you want.”

“I want to,” Tommy admits. “Can I?”

“Tommy, please, anything.”

Tommy pushes the underwear down over Brad’s knees and Brad kicks them off onto the floor so Tommy can settle between Brad’s legs. Tommy keeps his eyes on Brad’s face as he leans down and slowly, slowly takes Brad into his mouth.

Brad arches up, his head thrown back far enough that all Tommy can see is the underside of his stubbled chin, and slaps his hand against the back of the couch. He catches his breath after a few seconds. “I thought… you were going to fuck me.”

“I like this too,” Tommy says, then goes right back down.

He’s good at this; it’s one thing he’s sure of when it comes to sex. He slides his lips down until he feels Brad’s cock pushing at the back of his throat, and then pushes just that little bit more. Brad reaches for him when he feels Tommy’s throat constrict around his cock, and his hand settles first at the back of Tommy’s head, lightly, like he’s afraid to touch, and then he moves down to Tommy’s shoulder where he grips hard enough that his fingernails leave dents in Tommy’s skin.

“Oh, fuck, Tommy,” he pants.

Tommy bobs his head up and down a few times, spreading around the saliva and precome that had threatened to slip out the corners of his mouth. He finally pulls off and replaces his lips with his hand, jacking Brad a few times while Tommy catches his breath.

“Come on, Tommy, come on,” Brad says. He takes a hold of Tommy’s wrist to keep him from moving away.

“Do you want—”

“Whatever you want,” Brad cuts in quickly. “Oh, god.”

“Do you want my mouth?” Tommy keeps his hand on Brad’s dick, because Brad so obviously wants him to, and leans over him. He kisses Brad’s throat, right on top of the discolored skin. He wonders if it still hurts. “Do you want me to swallow?” he asks between kisses. “Do you want to come on my face? Or do you want me to kiss you while you come?”

He licks the bruise. It feels warm under his tongue, but Tommy thinks it might just be his imagination, or just that Brad is flushed. He wants to press harder, to make Brad squirm and cringe, but he’s not sure that’s what Brad wants from him. Brad isn’t submitting to him. It’s different.

“What do you want?” Tommy asks breathlessly. He finally sits up, removing himself from the temptation to hurt Brad in ways Brad doesn’t want.

“Tommy,” Brad gasps. He pulls Tommy’s hand away from his cock and sits up, so they’re face to face.

“What do you want?” Tommy asks again.

Brad puts a hand on either side of Tommy’s face, his fingertips digging into Tommy’s scalp, and pulls him in for a thorough, brutal kiss. It reminds Tommy so much of Adam that he goes weak and limp in Brad’s grasp.

“I want you,” Brad says fiercely. “I want you. Whatever you’ll give me.”

“I want…” Tommy tries to hold Brad’s gaze, but Brad’s eyes are burning with an intensity Tommy’s never had directed at him, and he’s not sure what it means. He looks down at the bruises around Brad’s neck instead.

“What do _you_ want?” Brad asks.

“I don’t know,” Tommy admits. He forces himself to meet Brad’s eyes again.

“I want you to fuck me,” Brad tells him quietly. “I want your cock, Tommy. I want you in me. I want you to show me what you got.”

He lets go of Tommy’s face and falls back to the couch, already spreading his legs wider and raises his knees. Tommy licks his lips. It only takes seconds for him to find the lube and condoms that Adam had stashed in the drawer of the coffee table, and then he’s got two slick fingers in Brad’s ass and Brad’s ankles hooked together around Tommy’s back.

“Is this good?” Tommy asks nervously. Brad feels so tight around him; he’s sure he should be doing something more. More lube, maybe, or slower thrusts, or maybe he should just go back to sucking Brad’s cock and get him off first.

Brad hisses and digs his heel into Tommy’s spine. “Fuck yes. Just do it, I’m ready.”

“Are you sure?”

“Tommy—”

“Okay, okay.”

Tommy stretches out and kisses Brad again, pushing his tongue between Brad’s parted lips like Adam does, and twists his fingers one last time before pulling them out. Brad groans and surges up, hooking one arm around Tommy’s neck to keep him close as they kiss.

Tommy breaks away after a moment to get undressed, and then to put the condom on; his fingers are slippery and he’s off balance as it is, even without the added distraction of Brad devouring his mouth. Brad’s patient enough; he stares up at Tommy with that same heated look in his eyes, but he doesn’t try to pull Tommy back down to kiss him or touch him. Tommy’s a little bit glad of the respite. He takes the opportunity to catch his breath and slow his racing heart.

Tommy climbs back onto the couch, back between Brad’s legs, and Brad immediately scoots closer, so his ass rubs against Tommy’s dick.

“Oh, fuck,” Tommy breathes. At least while he’d had his pants on, his cock had been easier to ignore.

“Yeah, come on,” Brad replies, grinning wickedly. “Fuck me, do it, come on.”

Brad is obviously done being patient. He grinds his ass against Tommy, urging him on, and Tommy finally smacks both hands down on Brad’s hips to hold him still.

“Okay, okay, okay,” he says, his voice high in his throat. He reaches between them to position his cock and stares up at Brad’s face as he pushes in.

Brad’s lips part in a silent gasp, familiar now from watching Adam fuck him over the past few days, but he doesn’t close his eyes and he doesn’t shy away from the intrusion. He waits, watching Tommy carefully, and doesn’t move until Tommy’s fully inside him. Tommy thinks that’s a bit backwards, that he should be the one making sure Brad’s okay, but then Brad pulls Tommy down on top of him and kisses him high on his cheek, right beneath his eye, and Tommy sinks into his care.

“Do it, Tommy. Fuck me, do it hard,” Brad whispers. Tommy feels a rush of pride at the strangled note in Brad’s voice. “I want to feel you,” Brad says.

Tommy takes Brad’s words to heart and slides his arms under Brad’s body, lifting his chest so they’re flush together. Brad moves with him easily, rolling with Tommy’s slow, deep thrusts like they’ve been fucking for years. Tommy buries his face in against Brad’s neck, mouthing his skin, licking the bruises without a thought now for any pain he might cause. He barely has the focus to keep up the rocking motion of their bodies, much less restrain himself from kissing.

But then Tommy’s teeth graze those bruises and he hears Brad suck in a sharp, sudden breath, falling out of rhythm. Tommy pushes up on his hands, an apology on the tip of his tongue.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, I promise,” Brad assures him, squeezing Tommy’s biceps.

“Did I—”

“Tommy,” Brad groans. “Harder, please.”

Brad lets go of Tommy’s arms and pushes his hands between them, laying his palms flat against Tommy’s chest. One finger curls around Tommy’s beaded necklace, pulling it taut, but his hands go lax again on Tommy’s next thrust. Brad’s mouth stretches wide on a groan as he grinds back against Tommy’s cock. Tommy sinks down, resting some of his weight on Brad’s hands, and leans down to kiss Brad’s open mouth. He sucks Brad’s lower lip between his teeth, something Adam does all the time, to both of them.

Brad kisses him back, a sudden flurry of passionate movement that leaves Tommy dazed, and then Brad pushes hard against his chest, sitting him upright on his knees. Brad flops back down immediately, reaching back with both hands to grab the arm of the couch. He uses it for leverage as he fucks himself down onto Tommy’s dick.

Tommy takes the hint and takes hold of Brad’s hips, pushing the thought of coming as far back in his mind as he can manage. It’s a trick he’s learned for when Adam wants him to wait; focusing entirely on getting someone else off brings him back from that razor’s edge.

“Come on,” he whispers. “Please come. Please.”

“So close, Tommy,” Brad gasps. He squeezes his hands into fists. Tommy almost laughs; he recognizes the gesture. They’re both so intent on holding out, so unused to just letting themselves go. “Oh, fuck, please—”

Tommy closes his fist around the base of Brad’s cock and jerks him hard and fast, finished with waiting. Brad feels tense as a guitar string beneath him and it takes all of Tommy concentration to divide his focus between his hand on Brad’s cock and his own dick in Brad’s ass.

“Oh, Jesus, _Tommy_ ,” Brad gasps.

Tommy forcibly blocks sensation from his mind; if he feels Brad’s ass tighten around him, he’s going to come, and he wants to watch Brad first. He wants to see the way Brad’s mouth goes slack and his eyelashes flutter, and he wants to hear every rough, panting breath. The sounds Brad makes are like they’re dragged from his lungs against his will, meaningless collections of vowels and curses. And then when Brad looks up at him, eyes glassy and satisfied, then Tommy will come.

Brad’s hands flex open where they lay on either side of his head, and after the frantic pace of his breath has slowed, he opens his eyes and looks up. Tommy lets himself go, rocking into Brad once, twice more and finally falling still, unable to rip his eyes away from Brad’s. He doesn’t pay attention to whatever noises leave his lips, but he can see Brad drinking in every sound. They stay very still for several long moments, just watching each other.

Gratitude floods Tommy’s body; he keeps it locked inside, unwilling to let even a hint of the ridiculous depth of emotion show on his face. Not now, not like this. Not when whatever they have together is still so new. Tommy scrubs at his eyes with his clean hand and shuffles back on his knees, slipping from Brad’s body as gently as he can.

Brad sprawls out, relaxed, and doesn’t stop Tommy from wiping them both clean with Adam’s shirt, the closest piece of clothing on the floor. When Tommy finishes, Brad’s still watching him. As far as Tommy can tell, Brad hasn’t once looked away. He pushes the nervousness aside, confident that Brad doesn’t know him well enough to see through his mask, and the remaining self-consciousness makes him blush. Brad smiles softly.

“C’mere,” he whispers, lifting one arm. Tommy sinks into his embrace and snuggles in close, already halfway to unconsciousness. He kisses the mottled colors on Brad’s throat. Brad pets his hair, like Adam does, and tells him to sleep.

***

Brad wakes up feeling like he’s being watched. He opens his eyes. Adam’s staring right back at him. Brad startles, but he tries not to move too much; Tommy’s half on top of him and about to fall off the couch as it is.

Adam has his arms crossed over his chest and he’s leaning casually against the wall opposite the couch, watching them. He quirks his eyebrows at Brad, grinning. “Looks like you had fun.” His voice is soft enough that Brad can’t really tell if he’s being sarcastic or not.

“Yeah. We missed you, though,” Brad tells him quietly. His heart is racing. He’s almost afraid it’s going to wake Tommy.

Still smiling, Adam uncrosses his arms and turns to disappear down the hallway.

“Adam!” Brad whisper-shouts. Tommy shifts a little but keeps on sleeping, and Brad carefully rearranges him so he can get out and chase Adam to the bedroom. He calls Adam’s name again, and when Adam turns around, Brad surges up and kisses him.

Adam wraps his arms around Brad’s waist and they let the kiss end naturally after a moment.

“We missed you,” Brad says again.

“I’m sure you did.”

“Is this… Is this against the rules? Are you mad?”

“Mad? No,” Adam replies quickly. “No, baby, I’m not mad. And relationships don’t have rules. I thought we figured that out before.”

Adam’s words don’t quite soothe the uneasy feeling in the pit of Brad’s stomach. “I feel like I did something wrong,” he admits.

“Oh, honey,” Adam murmurs, pulling Brad into a hug. “It’s okay, you didn’t do anything wrong. Unless Tommy’s mad at you, which I seriously doubt, considering he was clinging to you like an octopus.”

“How long were you watching us?”

“Long enough.” Adam pulls back to grin. “You two are the best cuddlers I know.”

Brad smiles back. “So you’re not jealous?”

“No, Brad, I’m—I’m happy about this. I was hoping…”

“You were hoping?”

“I didn’t want to be stuck in the middle,” Adam admits. “I know me and Tommy love each other, and I know we love each other, but… I just want you to love Tommy like I do. Tommy’s falling for you, you know.”

Brad thinks of the way Tommy had looked when he’d asked Brad to stay, and of the blank mask Tommy had pulled over his face after he’d come. “I’m starting to see that,” he says quietly.

“So go back out there,” Adam whispers. “I want you to be there when he wakes up. I need to shower and change, then maybe we could order in some dinner, what do you think?”

Brad squeezes his arms around Adam’s neck. “I love you.”

“Did you have fun?”

“Of course. Can I tell you about it?”

Adam kisses Brad’s cheek and shoves him a few steps down the hall. “Check with Tommy first. Now get back out there.”

Tommy’s still asleep when Brad walks into the living room, but his eyes flutter open when Brad sits down at the opposite end of the couch. He glances around in sleepy confusion until he finally finds Brad, then breaks into a smile.

“Hey, sleeping beauty,” Brad says.

“Hey,” Tommy mumbles. “Why’d you leave?”

“Adam came home. Went to say hi.” Tommy looks around the room. “He’s in the shower,” Brad explains. “But he wants to order dinner; you hungry?”

“Tacos?” Tommy asks hopefully.

Brad laughs. “In the three days I’ve been here, you’ve seriously had tacos for like, most of your meals.”

“I know what I like.”

“You like me?”

“I like you a lot.”

Brad leans forward, bracing himself on Tommy’s knobby knees. “Adam says you like me more than a lot.” Tommy’s breath catches and he looks suddenly nervous.

“You know.”

Brad stretches out over him. “I know now,” he says, then leans in and presses their lips together. “I like you more than a lot too,” he whispers.

Tommy lifts his head and kisses Brad again, and they stay stretched out on the couch for several minutes. Brad finally has to sit up and breathe.

“Hey, Tommy, is it alright if I tell Adam about the stuff we did?” He sees Tommy’s expression change, sees the blank mask drop down, and immediately backtracks. “I mean, if you don’t want to, that’s fine, I just thought he should know, and I’m kind of a chatterbox, and I like talking to him about this stuff, but if you’re not okay with it, that’s—”

“No, you’re right, he should know,” Tommy cuts in quickly. “I just… don’t want to see his face when you tell him. It’s embarrassing.”

“If it makes you uncomfortable—”

“Him knowing doesn’t make me uncomfortable. Just seeing it happen.” Tommy takes a deep breath and Brad sees the mask start to slip away. “Tell you what. Why don’t I go out and get us some dinner, and you and Adam can chat while I’m gone? Is that cool?”

“Are you sure?” Brad asks carefully.

“Yeah, totally.”

Adam chooses that moment to walk in, toweling his hair dry. Tommy rolls out from under Brad and goes over to kiss Adam hello. He takes off down the hallway before Adam can even respond.

“Let me go grab some clothes,” he calls over his shoulder.

“Clothes?” Adam asks Brad.

“He wants us to have some ‘alone time’,” Brad replies.

Tommy comes back seconds later, a t-shirt and hoodie thrown haphazardly over his torso and jeans only half-buttoned. Adam grabs him by the arm and drags him in for a real kiss.

“We can order food,” he says. “I don’t want you to leave.”

“No, it’s fine. Brad needs to tell you some stuff and I don’t want to be here for it.” He gets up on his toes and kisses Adam again. “It’s okay. I love you.”

Ten minutes later, Brad and Adam are alone, Brad still naked on the couch and Adam half-dressed in the armchair.

“So…”

“I just need to, like, decompress,” Brad blurts out. “I have all these… thoughts, and Tommy obviously doesn’t want to talk about it—or maybe he can’t, I don’t know. Does he talk about this stuff with you?”

“What, like, submission and stuff like that?” Adam asks.

“Yeah. Or just… sex. Anything.”

“We talk about it if we want something, mostly,” Adam explains. “He doesn’t like to pick it apart like you do. Did he submit to you?”

“No… not really. It was weird. Like… he didn’t know what to do. I told him we didn’t have to do anything kinky, and it totally threw him off.”

“He’s never had the kind of relationship with me like you had with me.”

“He said you had… he called it normal sex.”

“Yeah, we have… slightly more vanilla sex, occasionally. But you know me. I’m in charge. Tommy submits to me even when we’re not in a scene, a lot of the time. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he’s totally his own person with his own preferences, but… he defaults to me.”

“Even in life?”

“Sometimes, yeah. He’s just naturally like that, as far as I can tell. Not like you.”

“I want it.”

“You need it,” Adam corrects. “You need to channel that energy. That side of yourself. He’s just… I don’t know. Different. What did you do with him?”

“I basically told him to have his way with me, do whatever he wanted, and he kept, like, asking for permission.” Brad isn’t entirely sure how he feels about that, so he leaves the statement open-ended. If Adam reads anything into the silence, he probably won’t push Brad to talk about it. Brad hopes he won’t, anyway.

“Tommy’s…” Adam trails off thoughtfully. After a moment, he abruptly gets up and sits next to Brad on the couch, laying a hand on Brad’s knee. Brad sense he’s comforting himself more than Brad with the gesture. “I feel weird talking about him like this, but… I think you need to know.”

“Know what?”

“He’s not as confident as you. Not many people are, really. But Tommy’s still really shy about a lot of things, and he doesn’t like to make mistakes,” Adam tells him haltingly. “He gets nervous when he’s given so much free reign, like he’s gonna do something wrong and people will get angry with him. I never have, ever, but sometimes he still thinks I will.”

“That’s why you sweet-talk him,” Brad realizes aloud.

“I have to let him know he’s doing well, or that self-consciousness just eats away at him.”

“Does he censor himself with you?”

“I don’t know,” Adam admits. “From what I can tell, he’s sincere pretty much all the time.”

“He has a mask, though.”

“You saw it?”

“I’ve seen it before today, but never in the bedroom before now.”

“He’s better at opening himself up during sex, these days. I think he just gets scared that it isn’t going to last.”

“What won’t last?” Brad asks. He thinks he knows the answer.

“Us. This relationship.”

“I think it is, though.”

“I hope it does.” Adam pauses, squeezes Brad’s knee. “What about you, how did you handle him today? Did you top him?”

“No, he fucked me. I tried not to tell him what to do. But the whole time, I felt like I should.”

“He brings that out in me, too,” Adam says with a laugh.

“I think he got what he wanted, though. I think he opened up for me.”

“That’s good.”

Brad breaks into a bashful smile. “Before we did anything, I thought I’d be thinking of you. Like, imagining that you were there, telling us what to do, or that you were fucking me. But once he was inside me? It all went away, and it was just Tommy fucking my brains out. And I mean, we did miss you. It was weird not having you there. But I was really excited that it was just me and him, for once.”

Adam looks pleased at Brad’s admission and Brad relaxes a little, relieved. Then Adam leans in and kisses Brad’s cheek.

“Good boy.”

  
 _fin_.


End file.
